IAB denies wanting to regulate online ad content

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has denied it wants to lay claim to self regulation of the content of online ads after appointing former Yahoo counsel Samantha Yorke as its new director of regulatory affairs.

The Australian had reported that the IAB would “consider developing its own system of advertising and content self-regulation in a bid to bring itself into line with other media” but CEO Paul Fisher claims this isn’t an accurate statement of the IAB’s intentions.

Yorke’s role will include seeking to shape government policy on online advertising regulation but Fisher insisted that the IAB did not wish to take a role similar to that held by the Advertising Standards Bureau in regulating the content of online advertising.

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Fisher suggested the next priority for the IAB would be to follow the lead of the US and Europe in recommending that advertisers opt-in to the online behavioural advertising (OBA) system. Advertising that uses behavioural targeting would display the OBA logo and direct consumers to a website explaining how their data is collected and used. He said: “”The number of complaints about online ads is substantially lower by percentage by spend than complaints about ads in other mediums, but it’s very important that buyers and sellers observe best practice for managing, handling and disclosing consumer data.”